Trouble logging in?We were forced to invalidate all account passwords. You will have to reset your password to login. If you have trouble resetting your password, please send us a message with as much helpful information as possible, such as your username and any email addresses you may have used to register. Whatever you do, please do not create a new account. That is not the right solution, and it is against our forum rules to own multiple accounts.

TOKYO, Sep 16, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- Shanda Games Limited ("Shanda Games", or the "Company") (Nasdaq:GAME) and Square Enix Co., Ltd. (Square Enix), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd., today announced a strategic partnership that will leverage Square Enix's strong game content with the strength of Shanda Games' broad experience as a leading online game developer, publisher, and operator in mainland China. The partnership starts with an exclusive license in mainland China to FINAL FANTASYŽ XIV, a massively multi-player online role-playing game and the latest installment of the FINAL FANTASY franchise, which has sold more than 97 million units worldwide. This will be the first release of a FINAL FANTASY franchise title in mainland China.

Square Enix Group has identified globalization as one of its key strategic initiatives and has been developing and offering entertainment content derived from its global network based in Japan, North America and Europe. The partnership with Shanda Games will strengthen Square Enix Group's global business development with a focus on the rapidly-growing Chinese market.

Shanda Games is focused on creating a global online game platform offering the most compelling content and services. On the heels of Shanda Games' other recent successful game launches, the strategic partnership with Square Enix will further advance its strategy to provide high-quality, diverse and innovative game content to Chinese gamers and to expand its user base.

"The media entertainment markets are increasingly becoming more and more global in nature. Under this environment, we are speeding up our globalization strategy aimed at transforming our Group into a truly world-class enterprise," said Yoichi Wada, president and representative director of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. "Through this partnership with Shanda Games, a company with great success in online game operations in China, we are taking an important step in increasing the reach of high quality content from the Square Enix Group to even more customers around the world."

"We are excited to have Square Enix as a partner to leverage our capabilities and synergies for the benefit of both companies," said Mr. Alan Tan, Chairman and CEO of Shanda Games. "Our in-house game development team is well-qualified to assist in the localization of FINAL FANTASY XIV to the China market, while our strong sales and marketing capabilities and extensive game operation platform can provide access to the broad audience of Chinese gamers. Since its debut in 1987, the FINAL FANTASY franchise has attracted many devoted fans worldwide and, based on our experience and expertise in the China market, we are confident in the success of FINAL FANTASY XIV as well as other future collaborations with Square Enix. We believe our strategic partnership with Square Enix represents an alliance between leading game companies in Japan and China, and we look forward to broadening our business through this partnership."

FINAL FANTASY XIV in mainland China will be operated from servers separate from those servers for the Japanese, North American and European markets. Other details regarding the launch of FINAL FANTASY XIV in mainland China including launch timing will be announced at a later date.

__________________

--A dream called "Youth". We'll eventually wake up from this dream, but the memories will continue to endure. - Karasuma, School Rumble
--Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. - Dr. Seuss

Spirits Within almost bankrupt S.E. Now it might be FFXIV that does it o_O.

You should buy the stock! SE won't go bust overnight....it would just drop slowly if it is because of FFXIV.

Been playing since 25th last month. Horrendous game...it is a bloody chore to do crafting that I gave up on it. Once monster hunting gets boring I will stop my subscription.

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

Yeah it's bad. I hope a lot of players quit after the free month so it will let S.E know they can't release a broken game and get away with it.

Too late, we already bought the game and they already got most of the profits.

Quote:

BTW - Have you seen any cool monsters yet?

No. Just bee swarms with different names (Gridania). There is a giant plant golem somewhere in Limsa that randomly spawns and deal 1000+ damage to people still in noob gear.

I am already level 25 with at least a level 10 in every crafting and gathering skill. It is a fucking massive grindfest for 2 weeks, and it turned out that I can't even repair my own goddamned Trapper's Tunic with a level 11 Leathercraft.

The only upside is that I get eyes on me when I hit 150+ with a Weathered Shortbow, which only a few archers are able to do even with a Maple Longbow. The goddamned lag is annoying though, but it is interesting to have a mass buff of Raging Strike + Quelling Shot + Bloodbath + Wide Volley when aggro-ing quest monsters in groups.

P.S I became one of the most interesting archers in my linkshell. I have Cure, Sacrifice, Bloodbath and now I am planning to get an extra attack buff from Lancer.

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

i saw a .. big ass lizard? idk but its waaay OP in the locations their at.

ESPECIALLY THE ANTLING DIGGERS IN UL'DAH ON THE ROAD BETWEEN CAMPS DRYBONE AND BLACK BRUSH!!!

They have ranged attack, high movement speed, and hit over 500 with Trapper's Tunic on. And they spawn near the western choke point at the mountain.

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

as much as I want to love it, im slowly starting to hate it -_- they REALLY should have postponed it and perfected it.. not be scared by Guild wars 2 (IT SHOULD BE! WUAHAHA) or WoW and release early

No Chocobo's, no Aircrafts, 30% quests, no Side missions.. what was Square thinking!? I get bitched at a lot for mentioning this but DAMN IT its true!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

ESPECIALLY THE ANTLING DIGGERS IN UL'DAH ON THE ROAD BETWEEN CAMPS DRYBONE AND BLACK BRUSH!!!

They have ranged attack, high movement speed, and hit over 500 with Trapper's Tunic on. And they spawn near the western choke point at the mountain.

Eh I dont have a problem with them unless their RIGHT on the patch where you cant go around them, and sometimes i can outrun them if i got my prospect on (speed boost) its those damn lizards that get me (Only when im auto running XP )

Eh I dont have a problem with them unless their RIGHT on the patch where you cant go around them, and sometimes i can outrun them if i got my prospect on (speed boost) its those damn lizards that get me (Only when im auto running XP )

what server are you on saint? and whats ur char

Gyshal. Seriously I wish there is some sort of watchdog in Japan that deals with quality of goods - it would be easier to remove FFXIV from the market completely.

The game is bloody retarded :

1. Damaged Equipment : Repairing it to 75% takes a large sum of money and running back to a goddamn NPC. Asking a player to repair it is even worse - nobody wants to pay a decent sum (at least 5k for a repair costing 10k at an NPC), and nobody bothers to check for repairs. Shouting will net you a blacklist on other players. The worst thing is that THEY DON'T EVEN TOUCH YOUR BLOODY RINGS.

2. Delays in skillcasting : It takes 2-3 seconds JUST TO CAST A GODDAMNED SKILL. It isn't a lag issue, it is a mechanic one based on turns and attack speed. The mob will always attack faster than the player if the player is an Archer, Marauder, Conjurer or Gladiator.

3. Market Search : How the heck am I supposed to find something in the market wards with so many people around? There aren't even indicators to display what items they have!

4. Unnecessary Updates : So far, the game has been updated 3 times since its release on 25/9. And none of the updates solved any of the above problems, just fixing bugs like the healspam levelling. And the bloody rollback they did costed me 7000 Physical Level EXP, they didn't reset the goddamn quest expiry AT ALL. Mailed them and their reply was "There is nothing we can do.". Not even some kind of incentive or repayment.

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

Gyshal. Seriously I wish there is some sort of watchdog in Japan that deals with quality of goods - it would be easier to remove FFXIV from the market completely.

The game is bloody retarded :

1. Damaged Equipment : Repairing it to 75% takes a large sum of money and running back to a goddamn NPC. Asking a player to repair it is even worse - nobody wants to pay a decent sum (at least 5k for a repair costing 10k at an NPC), and nobody bothers to check for repairs. Shouting will net you a blacklist on other players. The worst thing is that THEY DON'T EVEN TOUCH YOUR BLOODY RINGS.

2. Delays in skillcasting : It takes 2-3 seconds JUST TO CAST A GODDAMNED SKILL. It isn't a lag issue, it is a mechanic one based on turns and attack speed. The mob will always attack faster than the player if the player is an Archer, Marauder, Conjurer or Gladiator.

3. Market Search : How the heck am I supposed to find something in the market wards with so many people around? There aren't even indicators to display what items they have!

4. Unnecessary Updates : So far, the game has been updated 3 times since its release on 25/9. And none of the updates solved any of the above problems, just fixing bugs like the healspam levelling. And the bloody rollback they did costed me 7000 Physical Level EXP, they didn't reset the goddamn quest expiry AT ALL. Mailed them and their reply was "There is nothing we can do.". Not even some kind of incentive or repayment.

well their fixing the market stuff I agree on delays, not to mentiion "that target is already enganged" even when its by you.
and its so freakin true what you said about shouting XD

Im gonna let this game set until they get shit in gear.

and that better happen before Guild wars 2.. because honestly... ... honestly..\

I think square just has too many games in the making. their still doing crap for FFXI, you got Versus and agito coming. See why WoW is where its at? what other games are blizzard workging on? Starcraft2? woo one game, and that game is AWESOME.

Gyshal. Seriously I wish there is some sort of watchdog in Japan that deals with quality of goods - it would be easier to remove FFXIV from the market completely.

The game is bloody retarded :

I think the deal breaker for me was the game just lacks atmosphere. Everything is bland. All I can remember about the game is running around green hills looking at dodos and killing rats. I can remember everything so fondly in FFXI and it has been years since I've played it.

I think the deal breaker for me was the game just lacks atmosphere. Everything is bland. All I can remember about the game is running around green hills looking at dodos and killing rats. I can remember everything so fondly in FFXI and it has been years since I've played it.

That is because the map contours are copypasta from one point to another.

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

Square-Enix has had seven years to learn about MMORPGs from FFXI. It's disappointing that the development team hadn't been able to draw effective lessons from that experience. Worse, it appears the developers are repeating all the same mistakes that FFXI made in its early days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sassarai

I can remember everything so fondly in FFXI and it has been years since I've played it.

I came across a blog (I've lost track of it now, unfortunately) that helped to put things in perspective. To a certain extent, nostalgia has coloured many fans' opinion of FFXI. We forget that in the beginning, that particular game also suffered its share of brickbats. For all its apparent strengths, FFXI also suffered from a horrendous user-interface. And, like FFXIV, FFXI also launched without much in the way of in-game tutorials and guides to point players in the right direction, whether in terms of plot progression or character development.

In hindsight, if it weren't for the availability of fansites like FFXI Allakazham (now simply known as FFXI Zam), I would never have been able to make much progress in FFXI. There was nothing in that game, for example, to teach me how to make and use macros (I've just discovered how to use macros in FFXIV and, boy, I can't describe how much easier it is now to actually play the game). And there was even less information available, in-game, on how to solve many different quests.

FFXIV's development team claims to have drawn inspiration from World of Warcraft. Well, it seems that haven't learnt enough about how to create a UI as intuitive as WoW's. Instead, the team seems to have followed FFXI's playbook almost to the letter, that is, make the game as inscrutable as possible and trust the player community to figure things out on its own as it did back when FFXI was new.

Back in 2003/4, North American fans were fortunate enough to receive a version of FFXI that had already benefited from a year of play-testing by Japanese gamers. FFXIV does not have that benefit, and hence all the rough edges we are seeing now, I believe. Simply put, the developers had to have been either incredibly naive about what players would put up with, or incredibly complacent when they were studying rival games.

At this point, count me in as one of many disappointed fans. Ironically, this game makes me miss FFXI enough to feel like visiting Vana'diel again. In many ways, I regret not completing Rise of the Zilart (I was just two or three missions short of completing that storyline) and Chains of Promathia before retiring my character. Unfortunately, FFXI has changed so much since then that it wouldn't feel the same even if I do return now.

==============

Still, when all is said and done, the key factor that keeps me playing any given RPG is the quality of its world and story concept. I've stuck with even more poorly implemented games in the past, simply because I had become emotionally involved with the story's progress.

In that sense, I'm still curious about how FFXIV will develop. Despite its many surface similarities, Eorzea does present interesting world concepts that are subtly different from Vana'diel's.

I just realised one thing : repairing items for others CAN be very profitable - I just earned 30k from repairing every item in someone's list.

This guy offered over 40k in total for all the item repairs. I bought the materials and repaired all of them at once. I didn't quite catch what he is saying in Japanese other than "w" (lol in Japanese leetspeak) and "Arigatou" in characters.

Moral of the story? Train EVERY crafting skill until level 10 and target those who offer more than 2k for their repairs per item.

And another thing : I found a number of the cast from Strike Witches in Gyshal. They are :

That is around half the main characters, subbing Ursula for Erica; though I didn't see Minna Dietlinde Wilcke yet (which is Rie Tanaka's character in the anime, she also did Voice 2 for the Miquote).

Quote:

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Square-Enix has had seven years to learn about MMORPGs from FFXI. It's disappointing that the development team hadn't been able to draw effective lessons from that experience. Worse, it appears the developers are repeating all the same mistakes that FFXI made in its early days.

Or it could be that they have no specific target market in mind. The game tried to encompass too many things at one time and end up screwing it all up.

Quote:

In that sense, I'm still curious about how FFXIV will develop. Despite its many surface similarities, Eorzea does present interesting world concepts that are subtly different from Vana'diel's.

Not much of INTERESTING other than broken combat mechanics, unfinished travel options, Discovery Age economics (a good avenue for profiteering actually for repairmen), and repetitive geography. There isn't even much at Coerthas and the other desert city.

__________________

When three puppygirls named after pastries are on top of each other, it is called Eclair a'la menthe et Biscotti aux fraises avec beaucoup de Ricotta sur le dessus.
Most of all, you have to be disciplined and you have to save, even if you hate our current financial system. Because if you don't save, then you're guaranteed to end up with nothing.

I just don't see enough potential in the game. Is it possible to fix the copy/pasta terrains? Can they change the map design so everywhere doesn't look like a pacman maze?

I read that the UI lag is done on purpose to prevent hacks so that might not even be fix. Add that along with a bad buying/selling system, lack of creative monsters, and a boring combat system just makes this game feel way too incomplete.

I might pick this game up when I read things have change dramatically but my expectations are pretty low that it will since they had 5 years and all the knowledge from FFXI to work with and this is the result?